Lightning strike causes a.m. chaos for subway

TTC chair Karen Stintz stepped in to help a passenger who fainted at the Lawrence subway station Wednesday, due to overcrowding in the morning heat, after a bizarre lighting strike overnight fried a great deal of transit equipment, TTC chief general manager Gary Webster told a commission meeting at City Hall Wednesday.

Lightning struck the TTC’s Wilson Yard, between the Wilson and Downsview stations, at 1:30 a.m. when the last subway trains were returning to the yard for the night, Mr. Webster said. He said the TTC was able to recover from the strike, which disabled a great deal of signals and equipment. “We were able to operate from transit control,” he said.

Ms. Stintz, who lives near the Lawrence station,was apparently on her way to City Hall when a customer fainted in the station. Mr. Webster also got stuck in the subway, waiting 40 minutes for the chance to board a subway at Davisville station, he said, noting, “It was a significant impact from a customer point of view.” The lighting strike delayed some trains, causing problems with the “headways,” the two minute, twenty second interval between trains on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line during the morning rush hour.